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The University of Utah Athletics
Kyle Whittingham Weekly Press Conference: Arizona State
10/30/2023 12:28 PM | Football
Penultimate home game of 2023 brings the Sun Devils to SLC for a noon kickoff Saturday
SALT LAKE CITY – University of Utah head football coach Kyle Whittingham held his weekly press conference on Monday, meeting with members of the media inside the Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center.
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Selected quotes from Coach Whittingham can be seen below.
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Opening Statement
"Obviously we got beat by a really good Oregon team on Saturday. Anybody that cared to pay attention to me last week knows I was saying they are a complete team…They were the whole package and very worthy of their ranking. In fact, had they beat Washington, which they were in position to do so, they would be a top-four or five team. That's my assessment of those guys; they seemed to have us on our heels from the opening drive and throughout the entire game. We've got to move on, put it behind us and flush that one. We have to respond, which is what it's all about. Every Saturday, 50% of the teams in the country have to respond and get ready for the next one, coming off a loss. We happen to be in that category this week. Typically, our guys do a very good job of doing just that.
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"We're at home again, which is a positive. Arizona State is coming to town and coming off a win against Washington State. It was probably their best offensive production of the season. They're a team that is gaining some confidence when you look at the film. But we've got to coach much better; that's really where it starts is coaching, putting our guys in position to succeed and make plays. That's our challenge as coaches and we will do that."
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On improving the run game from last Saturday…
"That was one of our main shortcomings in the game, not being able to establish a good run game. Oregon did a nice job at the line of scrimmage on both sides. I had said that the two real keys to the game were winning the line of scrimmage and the turnover margin. We weren't able to accomplish that. But when we're at our best, we run the football efficiently. That sets up the play-action game and everything else. We've got to find a way to get back on track with that. It's not panic time; it's one game. I feel like we've got a really good O-line and good backs. Typically as the run game goes, so goes the offense. That's going to be an important part of responding this week."
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On assessing the offensive line…
"The offensive line has been trending upward. We did not play as well on Saturday as we had been. Give Oregon a great deal of the credit for that. Their tackles played exceptionally well; they're big, strong guys that stay square and use their hands well. Not much running room in there, they shut down the gaps. The edge guys are good too. Like I said, they're good at all (positions). You can't pick out a position group with Oregon and say there's a weakness. Their front seven was physical and tough. Safeties did come down and crowd the box a bit. When people do that, you've got to make them pay and try to throw the ball up the field. We did have some really good individual performances; I thought Devaughn Vele had his best game of the season. Really could have had three or four more big catches had we been a little more patient and waited for him to come open…but it was really good to see Devaughn play really well and have a breakout game of sorts for this season."
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On moving on from the Oregon game…
"Our players are very prideful. They're smart. They get it. They know that we didn't play particularly well last week. They know that's an understatement. The coaching is a big part of it. But we've all got to move forward. We've all got to flush that and move forward, and get ready for the next challenge. You can't let someone beat you twice; that is very applicable this week for us. We've got to be able to put that game behind us and set our sights on the Sun Devils."
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On what he would like to see coming away from the Oregon game…
"It would start with coaches having game plans to put our guys in better positions. I'm not going, in any way shape of form, blame my players. They played hard, never quit from snap No. 1 to the very end. We, as coaches, have to do a better job of creating better matchups and better schematics. That's really our take as coaches. That's where we squarely place the blame, is on ourselves."
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What do you do when it comes to going back to the drawing board?
"Look at what we did as coaches and our preparation, our game planning and what we could do better. That's always where I look first and foremost. We've got a bunch of tough guys in that locker room that play hard, that are all-in and care about what they're doing. We, as coaches, have to continually try to play to our strengths personnel-wise and put those guys in (a good) position. Again, I'm convinced that (Oregon) is a top-four or five team in the nation. I could be wrong and it could play out differently. But they certainly were on (Saturday)."
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What good things did you see on film?
"Special teams; even though it didn't make a big impact, they were solid. Punted the ball extremely well, which has been a consistent theme for our punt team all year long. We had the nice kickoff return off the throwback which set us up right about midfield. Unfortunately, we threw a pick a play or two later to void that. We didn't do a good job taking the ball away. We lost the turnover margin…so that wouldn't be a positive at all. We didn't make impact plays on D, we had no sacks. We try to get six or seven impact plays a game, which is turnovers plus sacks. We had one. A lot of that is due to the opponent. They had a quarterback that got the ball out of his hand just like that. I'm so impressed with that kid, he was close to 80% completions which he has been all season long. The backs run hard and are physical. They've got speed. They've got a lot of good things going."
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FOLLOW US!
To get an inside look at the Utah Football program during its journey through the 2023 season, follow the Utes on social media along with visiting www.UtahUtes.com.
Twitter:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â @Utah_Football
Instagram:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â @UtahFootball
Threads:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â @UtahFootball
Facebook:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Utah Football
TikTok:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â @Utah_Football
UP NEXT
Utah will play at home for the second week in a row with the Arizona State Sun Devils coming to Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 4. The game is set for a 12 p.m. MT kick and will air on Pac-12 Networks.
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Selected quotes from Coach Whittingham can be seen below.
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Opening Statement
"Obviously we got beat by a really good Oregon team on Saturday. Anybody that cared to pay attention to me last week knows I was saying they are a complete team…They were the whole package and very worthy of their ranking. In fact, had they beat Washington, which they were in position to do so, they would be a top-four or five team. That's my assessment of those guys; they seemed to have us on our heels from the opening drive and throughout the entire game. We've got to move on, put it behind us and flush that one. We have to respond, which is what it's all about. Every Saturday, 50% of the teams in the country have to respond and get ready for the next one, coming off a loss. We happen to be in that category this week. Typically, our guys do a very good job of doing just that.
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"We're at home again, which is a positive. Arizona State is coming to town and coming off a win against Washington State. It was probably their best offensive production of the season. They're a team that is gaining some confidence when you look at the film. But we've got to coach much better; that's really where it starts is coaching, putting our guys in position to succeed and make plays. That's our challenge as coaches and we will do that."
Â
On improving the run game from last Saturday…
"That was one of our main shortcomings in the game, not being able to establish a good run game. Oregon did a nice job at the line of scrimmage on both sides. I had said that the two real keys to the game were winning the line of scrimmage and the turnover margin. We weren't able to accomplish that. But when we're at our best, we run the football efficiently. That sets up the play-action game and everything else. We've got to find a way to get back on track with that. It's not panic time; it's one game. I feel like we've got a really good O-line and good backs. Typically as the run game goes, so goes the offense. That's going to be an important part of responding this week."
Â
On assessing the offensive line…
"The offensive line has been trending upward. We did not play as well on Saturday as we had been. Give Oregon a great deal of the credit for that. Their tackles played exceptionally well; they're big, strong guys that stay square and use their hands well. Not much running room in there, they shut down the gaps. The edge guys are good too. Like I said, they're good at all (positions). You can't pick out a position group with Oregon and say there's a weakness. Their front seven was physical and tough. Safeties did come down and crowd the box a bit. When people do that, you've got to make them pay and try to throw the ball up the field. We did have some really good individual performances; I thought Devaughn Vele had his best game of the season. Really could have had three or four more big catches had we been a little more patient and waited for him to come open…but it was really good to see Devaughn play really well and have a breakout game of sorts for this season."
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On moving on from the Oregon game…
"Our players are very prideful. They're smart. They get it. They know that we didn't play particularly well last week. They know that's an understatement. The coaching is a big part of it. But we've all got to move forward. We've all got to flush that and move forward, and get ready for the next challenge. You can't let someone beat you twice; that is very applicable this week for us. We've got to be able to put that game behind us and set our sights on the Sun Devils."
Â
On what he would like to see coming away from the Oregon game…
"It would start with coaches having game plans to put our guys in better positions. I'm not going, in any way shape of form, blame my players. They played hard, never quit from snap No. 1 to the very end. We, as coaches, have to do a better job of creating better matchups and better schematics. That's really our take as coaches. That's where we squarely place the blame, is on ourselves."
Â
What do you do when it comes to going back to the drawing board?
"Look at what we did as coaches and our preparation, our game planning and what we could do better. That's always where I look first and foremost. We've got a bunch of tough guys in that locker room that play hard, that are all-in and care about what they're doing. We, as coaches, have to continually try to play to our strengths personnel-wise and put those guys in (a good) position. Again, I'm convinced that (Oregon) is a top-four or five team in the nation. I could be wrong and it could play out differently. But they certainly were on (Saturday)."
Â
What good things did you see on film?
"Special teams; even though it didn't make a big impact, they were solid. Punted the ball extremely well, which has been a consistent theme for our punt team all year long. We had the nice kickoff return off the throwback which set us up right about midfield. Unfortunately, we threw a pick a play or two later to void that. We didn't do a good job taking the ball away. We lost the turnover margin…so that wouldn't be a positive at all. We didn't make impact plays on D, we had no sacks. We try to get six or seven impact plays a game, which is turnovers plus sacks. We had one. A lot of that is due to the opponent. They had a quarterback that got the ball out of his hand just like that. I'm so impressed with that kid, he was close to 80% completions which he has been all season long. The backs run hard and are physical. They've got speed. They've got a lot of good things going."
Â
FOLLOW US!
To get an inside look at the Utah Football program during its journey through the 2023 season, follow the Utes on social media along with visiting www.UtahUtes.com.
Twitter:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â @Utah_Football
Instagram:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â @UtahFootball
Threads:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â @UtahFootball
Facebook:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Utah Football
TikTok:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â @Utah_Football
UP NEXT
Utah will play at home for the second week in a row with the Arizona State Sun Devils coming to Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 4. The game is set for a 12 p.m. MT kick and will air on Pac-12 Networks.
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Players Mentioned
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